Certified Book Addict

Hello again chums, what's this, another blog post already!

That's right, here I am, back with yet another thrilling installment of 'Life: as Jade Boylan'. Perhaps one day i'll discuss my uncontrollable online shopping addiction with you all, but for today i'll be telling you all about one of my most recent purchases, a rather fab custom laser cut necklace and brooch. 

I love a good laser, and I love a good book, so what better way to combine the two than with a pretty special laser cut necklace declaring my LOVE of books to the world! And a cute brooch to match. 

After all, I AM a Librarian so i can totally get away with wearing these at work sometimes. Or EVERY SINGLE DAY! Possibly.

Anyway, here's a closeup of the necklace. Yes I know... it IS rather flipping brilliant isn't it!

When I ordered the necklace I couldn't resist getting myself one of the speech bubble brooches as well! I knew I had to pick a quote about books, so this one by 'Frank Zappa' seemed like the perfect choice. Ah such is the eternal struggle of the book addict...

I often treat myself to various pretty bits n' bobs while perusing the internet, but this time I wanted something a little more personal. I've been going through a bit of a rough patch lately so I was looking for a little treat to try and cheer myself up a bit. 

Luckily, while trawling the interweb late one evening one one of my frequent shopping quests I found the incredibly marvellous Sugar and Vice shop online and as soon as I clicked on the custom options I knew I wouldn't be leaving without placing an order! 

The items available are all absolutely gorgeous and I have to say, super good value for money. I can't actually believe how reasonably priced everything on the site is! The designs are super cute and yet still totally affordable to the point where if you visit the shop (and you're like me) you'll probably be tempted to order more than one thing. 

BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS SO DARN LOVELY!

Both the necklace and the brooch are great quality with a really neat finish and a nice sturdy feel to them. I've bought laser cut jewellery in the past and it's practically fallen apart after a few wears, but these items feel built to last. 

I daresay i'll still be rocking my brilliant bookworm accessories for years to come!

  

Sugar and Vice offer loads of super duper customising options for necklaces, brooches and rings.You can get pretty much any phrase, name or word custom made into a funky accessory for you or someone else. What better way to celebrate how awesome YOUR name is than to get it made into a necklace so that everyone who sees it knows that YOU know who you are, even if they don't. (And let's face it, if they don't know you, it's obviously their loss!)

As well as tons of groovy custom options, Sugar and Vice also offer a whole bunch of sweet ready made accessories and treats. Scroll down to see a few of my personal favourites from the shop...

Yeah... okay so maybe i've kind of got more than a few faves! So much lovely stuff though! I'm already bookmarking things on the site for Xmas gifts for friends and family + the custom items make great Birthday gift ideas for anyone and everyone. 

I can prove it since My necklace and brooch were both Birthday gifts to myself and I just LOVE them!

Anyway I think i've posted more than enough gorgeous examples of smashing accessories to effectively tantalise and tempt your online shopping taste buds! 

To see even more of what Sugar and Vice have to offer, check out their Website

You can also follow them on Twitter, keep up with their news on Facebook or follow them on Instagram for lots of fab snaps of lovely stuff. 

And on that delightful note I shall bid you all adieu!

Now that i'm officially back in the world of the blogosphere I shall do my utmost best to try and maintain a regular routine of fun posts for y'all to feast your eyes on.

So until next time, that's all folks

Creative Cafe #31

hello lovely readers! you'll be utterly delighted to know that it's time for yet another wonderful Creative Café post...

so stop what you're doing (i.e. reading this) and scamper off to grab a drink + a yummy snack then run back and settle down to feast your eyes on some pretty pictures.

in case you haven't the slightest clue what i'm wittering on on about, it's a Creative Café post tradition that is referred to only as 'the drill'. in fact, it's all explained much better here - The Drill

 so without any further ado (or more useless rambling from me), let's get on with the post!

today it's all about very fabulous British illustrator, artist, graphic designer and doodler extraordinaire, Stina Jones

 Stina is a creative based in the West Midlands (though she's originally from Lancashire) who works freelance for organizations and companies all over the place, as well as several local businesses in Birmingham. i first discovered Stina's work via Twitter. i immediately adored her funky style of drawing, i knew i'd have to share it on here with you all

i love her the way she draws, Stina creates lots of fun little characters and scenes both digitally and traditionally. her work is always cute and quirky + often filled with sweet colours and clever little details that make you smile

i'm a sucker for any illustrators that use bold lines in their work so it'll come as no surprise that i'm a big fan of Stina's designs! her linework is gorgeous, making sure that her pictures really pop with or without colour.

Stina also runs a very groovy West Midlands based design agency called Creative Elements, where she works with a few other freelance designers and creatives. all really super duper stuff!

right i'll shut up now and let you have a nice scroll through some more of Stina's sublime artwork and illustration, enjoy...

gorgeous stuff right?! of course it is, i told you it would be :D

right, tis time for some lovely links...

to see more of Stina's work + to find out more about her or to commission her you can visit her website here - Stina Jones

she also has some prints and doodles for sale online - Shop

you can also see many of her projects on her Behance Portfolio - Stina Jones Behance

if you're a tweeter you can keep up to date with her via Twitter - @Stina_Jones

or you could even 'Like' her work via Facebook - Stina Jones Design

All images featured in this post belong to Stina Jones © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or copy ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.


i just want to say THANKS again to Stina for letting me run the feature :) x

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so there you go! a new Creative Café post at long last! i hope you enjoyed it (i bet you did!!!)

right well i have to dash off now because my little cousin Sienna has come to stay and we have A LOT of colouring in to do + A LOT of Hello Kitty stickers to stick to stuff!

so until next time, that's all folks... xX

Creative Café #29 ★

hello there dearhearts, you might be wondering where on earth i've been for the past... 2 weeks! has it really been 2 weeks?! it's probably been more...

crikey. anyway, i haven't actually been away anywhere or anything, i've been right at home stuck in a little world of my own alternating between doing work for college, clients, college, commissions, college and so on and so forth.

anyway, there is literally NOTHING going on in my life right now worth blogging about so instead, it's time for another lovely, colourful Creative Café post

follow 'the drill' and grab yourself a snack + a drink and settle down for some pretty illustration because today it's all about the very groovy Jen Oaks

Jen is an American illustrator who produces very VERY awesome designs and illustrations featuring all manner of funky characters and creations

although it must be said that i am particularly fond of her curvy pin-up girl illustrations, they are rather fabulous after all, in fact they are absolutely ruddy marvellous!

 i just adore the way she captures their expressions, you can tell that all of her curvy pin-ups are very sassy and cheeky + they're all so gorgeously feminine, it's really refreshing to see some sexy plus size pinup illustrations! brilliant...

more of those lovely ladies later. so what else does Jen do?! well, as well as being a generally glorious illustrator she also designs groovy characters and scenes for various editorial clients + takes part in super duper art shows around the USA

in her spare time when she's not being an awesome arty superhero, she also gets her work featured on sparkly blogs and sites such as a post featuring her fabby prints on Apartment Therapy or the lovely interview and feature about her Curvy Pin-ups on SF Today

she's also extra awesome and that's because she doesn't just design groovy things for magazines and the like, she also sells very jazzy cards, prints, stickers, badges and calendars!

the detail in her work is what i love the most though. the way she packs so much into a figure or a scene, the illustrations are never overcrowded they're always spot on and manage to convey the appropriate emotion or feeling through these often delicate and intricate little details

do you know what time it is now?! it's time for me to hush up and let you have a nice scroll through some more of Jen's cute work in your own sweet time. enjoy...

you see, i told you it was all gorgeous! sometimes it's not easy always being right...

time for some links now!

to see even more of Jen's quirky, colourful work you can head on over to her offcial website here - Jen Oaks Illustration

she also has a fab Etsy shop chock full of lovely printed goodies and merch featuring her designs - Jen's shop

you can also 'Like' her work on Facebook - Jen Oaks

and follow her on Twitter - @jenoaks

she's also on Tumblr - jenoaks

and has a great Flickr full of sketches and other lovely things - Jen Oaks

and there you go. all that's left for me to do now is say a big ol' THANK YOU to the very lovely Jen for saying yes and letting me run this little feature, so thanks again Jen :) x


All images featured in this post belong to Jen Oaks © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace AND of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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so like i said, nothing to report on in my world at the moment. i am truly swamped with work. i spend almost every day painting in my room and i spend the rest of the week either at college or at home editing files for commissions. busy, busy, busy.

so until next time, whenever that may be, that's all folks... xX